headroom

or head room

[ hed-room, -room ]

noun

1. Nautical. the clear space between two decks.
2. Also called headway.
   1. clear vertical space, as between the head and sill of a doorway, the ceiling and floor of a room, or the ceiling of a vehicular passageway and a vehicle roof, as to allow passage or comfortable occupancy:

      over 7.5 feet of headroom in the attic;

      a covered bridge with limited headroom.

   2. clear vertical space above one’s head, as in a vehicle or room:

      plenty of headroom for passengers.

3. Audio. dynamic headroom.

headroom

/ -ˌruːm; ˈhɛdˌrʊm /

noun

1. the height of a bridge, room, etc; clearance

Word History and Origins

Origin of headroom¹

First recorded in 1850–55; head + room

Example Sentences

Reeves has also left herself with a "relatively slim margin of headroom", it said.

From BBC

But since then, borrowing costs have risen and Mr Hunt admitted at the weekend that the forecasts on what headroom he has available has "gone against us".

From BBC

By the middle of last month, the BBC understands that the government's headroom was about back to where it was in November, roughly £13bn.

From BBC

He said Asda generated so much cash that "even if our interest payments were to double Asda has more than sufficient headroom to service that".

From BBC

There’s enough legroom and headroom for adults in the back seat, and cargo volume stands at an impressive 25.6 cubic feet, which is more than just about every other entry in the category.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• area
• arena
• capacity
• distance
• field
• location
• slot
• spot
• territory
• zone